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Knee Injuries Led to Departures

Originally posted on FanNation Bear Digest
By Gene Chamberlain | Last updated 3/11/22

The next phase of Ryan Poles' Halas Hall house cleaning after trading Khalil Mack will be players cut for cap purposes who no longer fit for various reasons.

Apparently the first of those are inside linebacker Danny Trevathan and running back Tarik Cohen.

Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reported Trevathan will be released and ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted the release of Cohen, who has not played since early 2020. Both players have been plagued by knee injuries

Neither release come as surprises, after Trevathan missed 12 games last year with a knee injury. Cohen hasn't played since 2020.

The Bears made Trevathan play in the final preseason game last year when other veteran players were sitting, and it seemed he might be cut then. The knee injury persisted and he had to go on injured reserve.

Trevathan being cut with a post-June 1 designation provides the Bears with $3.3 million of cap space but their dead cap space grows by another $2.4 million. It grew by $24 million when they traded Khalil Mack.

Cohen has endured great misfortune over the last few years. Cohen was trying to bounce back from a down 2019 season when he called a fair catch against Atlanta on a punt return in Week 3 of the 2020 season. He was hit in the knee on the fair catch and suffered a season-ending torn anterior cruciate ligament. Then he had a problem with the rehab and it's widely believed he needed another surgery, although Bears coach Matt Nagy refused to reveal this when pressed on it.

Additionally Cohen tragically lost a brother to an accidental electrocution and another was crippled by a gunshot.

Cohen caught a team-high 71 passes in 2018 and had 725 recieving yards for a 10.2-yard average, with five touchdowns. He averaged 4.5 yards a carry on 99 attempts (444 yards) that season. As a rookie under John Fox in 2017, Cohen had 53 catches for 353 yards and ran for 370 yards on 87 carries.

However, he had a rough 2919 with only 213 yards on 64 runs (3.3 yards an attempt), and caught a career-high 79 passes but for only 5.8 yards a reception.

Cohen made the Pro Bowl and All-Pro in 2018 as a punt returner. He led the NFL in punt returns (33) and yards (411) in 2018 and averaged 12.5 yards a punt return that season. He returned kicks in 2017 and averaged 22.4 yards for 26 returns.

The Bears save $4 million of cap space but take on $1.75 million more in deadcap space with the move.

Trevathan was the team's Ed Block Courage Award winner and was scheduled to receive this honor later this offseason an award banquet.

Like Mack, Trevathan is another example of a player who cost the Bears plenty but hasn't always been available due to injury.

Trevathan came to the Bears in 2016 as a free agent from Denver and could have played in 97 games. He was able to play in only 67 and had only two seasons when he played more than 12 games 2018 and 2020.

The other reason Trevathan's departure is expected is he has been a 3-4 inside linebacker since 2014 and fits better in one due to a lack of pass coverage ability.

In the last four seasons Trevathan's passer rating against when targeted has become worse and worse. It was 95.1 in 2018, then 113.5, 118.4 and 134.4 last year.

Alec Ogletree replaced Trevathan in the 3-4 as a starter last year and was a street free agent who now is an unrestricted free agent, but is more of an inside linebacker for a 3-4 scheme as well.

Nose tackle Eddie Goldman is another player who appears in danger of release, although league sources say there has been an attempt to trade him. This makes sense because Goldman if released could easily end up with any one of three division rivals who use the 3-4 defense now and could use another nose tackle.

The Bears are using a 4-3 now and Goldman's position is not part of the new scheme.

This article first appeared on Bear Digest and was syndicated with permission.

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